Word Origin & History

ecstasy late 14c., "in a frenzy or stupor, fearful, excited," from O.Fr. extasie, from L.L. extasis, from Gk. ekstasis "trance, distraction," from existanai "displace," also "drive out of one's mind" (existanai phrenon), from ek "out" + histanai "to place, cause to stand," from PIE base *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Used by 17c. mystical writers for "a state of rapture that stupefied the body while the soul contemplated divine things," which probably helped the meaning shift to "exalted state of good feeling" (1610s). Slang use for the drug 3,4-methylendioxymethamphetamine dates from 1985.

Example Sentences for ecstasy

Suddenly, while he sat in this ecstasy before her, he caught sight of his own hand.

Oh, my friend, the agony in that shrouded face was ecstasy to see!

The Bellamy, says the critic, was only equal to the Cibber in expressing the ecstasy of love.

Mr. Watson seemed to be bewildered by the ecstasy of his joy.

The imaginative faculty (has) the capabilities of ecstasy and possession.

The romance and ecstasy that at Wiesbaden had soaked her spirit came no more.

With a cry of joy she sprang into his arms, laughing and weeping in her ecstasy.

He went into ecstasy, and something like a volcano of filth boiled within him.

In the ecstasy with the flower-vision we learnt her special secret, hidden till then beneath the deepest silence.